Greater New Orleans

Officials in Baton Rouge say with the growing populations in the Capital Region and the industry boom taking place along the Mississippi river, infrastructure expansion will be needed to accommodate the changes.
(Michael DeMocker, The Times-Picayune archive)

As candidates for Louisiana's next governor gear up their campaigns, infrastructure should be a key topic in debates, Dan Borné, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association and Adam Knapp, president of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber told a group of attendees at the Connect "Boom without a bust" forum on Thursday afternoon.

"The next governor's election ought to be pitched on infrastructure," Borné said. "As a state we can demand of our gubernatorial candidates a plan, not just a plan, but a plan that would also set up goals and objectives and something we can bank on if that person is elected governor."

Louisiana is experiencing an industrial boom in southern part of the state, but transportation discussions have been largely absent from the dialogue of the growing workforce expansion that is underway.

"As training and job opportunities expand in southeast Louisiana, access to transportation will be a major hurdle for many of those who need these opportunities the most," a Center for Planning Excellence report says.

CPEX estimates there will be more than 42,000 new job openings in the "super region" between Baton Rouge and New Orleans by 2020. Officials from Texas and North Dakota, two states that have experienced economic booms told the forum attendees they've experience issues with traffic congestion, strain on roadways, and housing prices have increased.

To remedy those issues, CPEX points to strengthening the state's infrastructure, diversifying the economy, developing sustainable residential and commercial spaces, and jobs and training with transportation options. One option operating rail line that would take passengers back and forth between Baton Rouge and New Orleans free up the strain on Interstate 10.

"While this administration has done a hell of a job bringing it in, the next administration will have to deal with the infrastructure issues because Bobby can't be governor again," Borné said.

Knapp says the 'boom' part of 'Boom without bust' is maintaining the consistent approach to economic development is something the state has broken through cycles of gubernatorial changes in the past.

Jason Sappington, a senior transportation planner for the Regional Planning Commission serving the New Orleans Metropolitan area said finding ways to manage existing infrastructure would be the responsibility of local and state governments. He says there's no indication of federal funding coming to the state.

Sappington said local governments would have to look to alternative funding sources, such as public-private partnerships and tax increment financing districts.